Prep-Q

GPC-GCMS

Cleanup for Analysis of Residual Pesticides in Foods

To ensure the safety of the increasing number of imported food products, residue standards have been established in Japan for over 200 types of pesticides.
To allow efficiently inspecting for all these pesticides in foods, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has developed a method for rapid analysis of residues in foods (multiresidue pesticide analysis method) that enables simultaneously analyzing multiple analytes (notified in 1997). This method uses a GPC cleanup method to partially automate the pretreatment process. Due to a partial revision of food standards in 1999, methods other than the test methods specified in the Food Sanitation Act may now be used.
Therefore, to further automate the process, Shimadzu now offers a Prep-Q system, which connects a GPC cleanup system to a GC-MS system online. This provides an even faster and labor-saving system for screening residual pesticides in foods.

Analysis Procedure

First, an extract containing pesticides is obtained from the food sample and concentrated.

1.

Use a GPC column to separate oil/fat and dye components from pesticide components based on differences in molecular weight.

2.

Use a flow line switching valve to reject oil/fat and dye components and trap pesticide components in the sample loop.

3.

Use the newly developed large-volume GC-MS injection method to inject the concentrated pesticide components trapped in the loop into the GC column.